


The Little Lost Uncle Luke

by astropixie



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Because I apparently can't write something without a hint of angst, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Kid Fic, Light Angst, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-05
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-07-12 11:36:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7101622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astropixie/pseuds/astropixie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the TFA Kink prompt: Luke baby-sitting a young Ben and being the best uncle ever. Bonus points for <s>inappropriate</s> <i>totally awesome</i> use of the Force to entertain Ben.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For the TFA Kink prompt: Luke baby-sitting a young Ben (7 years, max) and being the best uncle ever. Bonus points for ~~inappropriate~~ _totally awesome_ use of the Force to entertain Ben.
> 
> I have a lot of headcannons about this and used this prompt to spew them everywhere, I'm sorry.

“Ben, I have to go,” Leia said. “Your Uncle Luke will take care of you today.”

Luke smiled down at the quiet boy, and Ben looked away.

Leia noticed and rolled her eyes. “You’ll have a lot of fun, I promise. And look, Artoo is here.”

Artoo and Ben were within an inch of each other’s heights at the moment. Luke tried not to feel jealous of the droid as Ben hugged him and then started his usual ritual of tracing the blue rectangular shapes on Artoo’s domed head with his tiny index finger. Luke had no idea why he did that or why Artoo seemed to like it. Just another strange thing about Ben.

“Luke, thank you so much,” Leia said. She finished tucking her hair into place in front of the mirror by the door. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”

Artoo chortled from the living room, pointing out that at least Ben liked _one_ of them.

“What did he say?” Leia asked, distracted as she gathered her things for the day.

“Nothing,” Luke said, waving a hand at Artoo to shush. “This will be a nice chance to spend some time with him.”

Leia gave him a knowing look and said, “I should be back for bedtime, but you know how the Ithorians can be…if I’m not then make sure he gets his favorite story.”

“The Little Lost Bantha Cub?” Luke asked.

“That’s the one.” Leia crouched next to Ben and Artoo. “I have to go. Be good for Uncle Luke.”

Ben hugged her tight and Leia practically had to pry him off of her. “Okay, okay…I’ll be back tonight.”

Ben nodded.

“Use your words, sweetheart.”

Ben clamped his mouth shut, and Leia looked like she wanted to argue the issue, but she didn’t have time. She kissed his cheek and swept out the door, telling Luke, “Good luck!”

“I don’t need luck, I have the Force!” Luke called after her.

She laughed. “You’re going to need it!”

When she was gone, Luke closed the door and let out a long sigh. Artoo was right. Ben had never seemed to like him. Even as a baby he would smile at other people, but never Luke. Hopefully a whole day together would give them a chance to bond.

Ben and Artoo had already vanished into Ben’s room, and Luke hung back, watching and listening. Ben had a few model ships and random knickknacks from Han’s adventures (including sets of cards and other gambling items, Leia must love that), all displayed on one wall. Ben and Artoo crouched around a small holo projector in the middle of the room.

Artoo asked Ben what he wanted to play, and the dark-haired boy started talking in a rush. “Dad gave me this holo encyclo—encylco—um, a database of ships. Do you wanna look at it with me? Oh--You know all this already, don’t you?”

Artoo assured him that ships never got boring to an astromech droid, and Ben grinned. He turned on the holo projector and Luke smiled fondly at the image of a T-16 Skyhopper.

“I used to fly one of those,” he said.

Ben looked up at him and his small face went blank, smile gone.

Luke faltered; should he come in? Would he make things worse? He sensed Ben’s fear through the Force, but that just confirmed the obvious body language. Why would Ben be afraid of him? Did he do something, or say something at another visit?

This was ridiculous. He was the babysitter, and a Jedi. He could manage to spend time with a five-year-old boy without having a crisis.

“Back home on Tatooine,” Luke said. He sat down with them, sitting crosslegged, and Ben scooched closer to Artoo. “I used to fly it through Beggar’s Canyon, targeting womp rats—“

Ben clicked a button on the holo projector and the image changed to a Huttese waste hauler. He glanced at Luke sideways, as if checking to make sure he didn’t have a story associated with it.

Luke pursed his lips while Artoo trilled a long laugh at him. This was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

Luke remembered making fun out of nothing in his childhood—going exploring on hot days with his friends, bright suns beating down, crossing expanses of sand to get to climbing rocks and, one time, finding a ditch of running water at another moisture farm from the runoff of a malfunctioning extractor. It was muddy and sandy but cool to the touch, and they splashed in the little puddle, laughing, until an angry maintenance droid chased them off.

Ben, by contrast, seemed to turn fun into nothing. What little kid doesn’t talk? Why was Ben so quiet?

Ben tapped through a few more holograms of ships—Artoo made a comment about an Old Republic Headhunter that made Luke wonder, not for the first time, how old Artoo actually was and whether his memory had ever been wiped for routine maintenance—but soon the database toy lost its appeal and Ben simply stared at the buttons in silence.

Artoo asked if he wanted to play something else, and Ben shook his head “no.”

“Did you eat breakfast?” Luke asked.

Ben shook his head, looking away.

Luke stood. “Well, I’ll make some.”

Neither Ben nor Artoo followed him into the small but well-stocked kitchen. Leia had a new food-prep unit, with popular soups, main plates for humans and alien guests, and even dishes from Alderaan programmed in. She also had fresh fruits and vegetables—Threepio probably bought those. Luke programmed a hot cereal and cut a fruit into slices, listening in on Ben and Artoo, who had immediately started talking when he left the room.

“I don’t know,” Ben said.

Artoo crooned softly.

“Uncle Luke doesn’t like me,” Ben said.

Luke stopped slicing for a moment, juice of the fruit in his hand dripping slowly onto the plate as his heart clenched. Ben thought he didn’t like him? Why would he think that?

Artoo asked that very question in an indignant tone, pointing out that Luke liked _everyone_ , even Threepio, and he especially liked his nephew. Luke listened intently.

“He doesn't. He thinks I’m strange.”

Artoo pointed out in a gentle warble that Ben _was_ strange, and Ben laughed.

Luke let out a slow breath as he finished slicing the fruit. Either Ben had overheard a worried conversation between himself and Leia, or he was listening in on private thoughts again, just like the disastrous dinner party with the Mon Cala senator a few months ago—although Luke thought his own reaction had been much more measured than Han’s storming out, Leia’s shouting, and the senator's rash vow to leave the New Republic—Ben was a little boy with a power that simply needed guidance and discipline, it did not mean he was like Vader, no matter what Han shouted or Leia feared. Admittedly this seemed to be a recurring problem, and Ben’s astonishing natural talent far outpaced his emotional maturity.

The food prep unit beeped, signaling the cereal was done, and he stirred the fruit into the two bowls. It occurred to him, belatedly, that Leia asked him over today to teach Ben, not simply to babysit. But how could he spend the day lecturing the boy when Ben already thought that he didn’t like him? No, they needed to establish a basic connection before that. Maybe his “farmboy” cooking skills would win him over.

Ben emerged from his room, practically pushed out by Artoo, and Luke set the small bowl of cereal and fruit on the tall counter. Ben clambered onto his tall stool with practiced movements.

“I like this cereal,” Ben said.

Luke could kiss Artoo—he was talking! Something about Artoo’s pep talk must have helped.

“Good, I'm glad. We have the whole day,” Luke said, digging into his own hot cereal. “Is there something you want to do? We could go to the holozoo, or a park.”

Ben didn’t seem to hear the question or suggestions. He carefully picked the fruit out of his cereal, lining the chunks up inside his bowl. (So much for Luke’s farmboy cooking skills.) Then he climbed down from the stool, found milk and sugar, reached up to place them on the counter, and climbed back into his seat to pour a small heap of sugar on top of the cereal.

“Hey,” Luke said. “I don’t think your mom would approve of that much sugar.”

Ben looked straight at him and poured even more on.

“I know what you’re doing,” Luke said. He took the sugar away. “You’re trying to see what you can get away with.”

Ben shrugged and ate quietly.

“You’re more like a teenager than a five year old, you know that?” Luke said.

That earned him a little half-grin that made Ben look like a miniature version of his father. Luke smiled back, although he ached on the inside, thinking of Han’s absence. Then again, as he watched Ben flick the pieces of fruit out of his bowl across the counter, he could almost see why Han preferred to stay away. 

Ben moved suddenly, looking at Luke with his hands flailing, and in his frantic movements swiped his bowl off the table, spilling milk and hot cereal to the floor with a crash and unmistakable clatter of broken dishware. Ben jumped down from his seat, and Luke crouched down, following him.

“Stay away, that’s probably sharp—oh.” Luke trailed off, noticing that Ben had already managed to cut himself by attempting to pick up the pieces, although he didn’t seem to notice as blood mingled with milk on the floor. He grabbed for another piece of the broken bowl.

“Hold still, let’s get cleaned up,” Luke said, reaching for Ben to grab him before he hurt himself further, and he took him gently beneath the arms—

Ben _shrieked._

Luke nearly dropped him in surprise, but he managed to pick him up, wincing as Ben squirmed frantically to escape, getting in a few little kicks to the stomach.

“Calm down,” Luke said, adjusting his grip. “Let’s get washed up and I’ll clean the mess, don’t worry.”

But he didn’t quiet down, he kept lashing out, and Artoo trundled up to them, asking Luke in a shrill whistle something close to _what did you do to him?_

“I don’t know, Artoo,” Luke said, trying to contain Ben’s kicking legs with one arm. With difficulty they made it to the refresher, and Ben calmed almost instantly the moment Luke put him down next to the sink.

“Can you wash your hands?” Luke asked. His heart pounded, thinking of the way Ben yelled and tried to get away. He almost wanted to call Leia for help. They couldn’t even eat breakfast together without someone bleeding and screaming.  

Ben did fine cleaning his bleeding finger with soap and water, watching the water carry the blood away for a long moment. But then when Luke reached out with a bandage, Ben jumped from the sink ledge and bolted.

“Wait, Ben!” Luke tore after him, bandage in hand. “Come back!”

He didn’t have far to go; Artoo stood in the middle of the kitchen, a barely-hidden mop of black hair standing just behind the droid. He sighed and tried to make this fun instead of extremely frustrating. “Artoo, have you seen Ben?”

The droid swiveled its domed head side to side with a negative beep.

“Artoo,” Luke said in a warning tone of voice.

To his amazement, he heard a stifled giggle.

Artoo beeped at Ben not to give away his position.

“I think I hear him around here somewhere,” Luke said. He peered around Artoo, and Ben smiled shyly up at him. “There he is.”

Ben held out his hand for Luke to bandage. “Can we go to the zoo?”

Luke blinked, confused by the whirlwind change in attitude and conversation, but he knelt down to bandage his small finger and ignored the sinking feeling in his stomach as he said, “Of course.”

* * * 

"Leia's going to kill me," Luke said an hour later in the crowded exhibit. Hundreds of families of all species roamed the holographic exhibits of the indoor zoo, and suddenly the lush green habitats and rustic stone path lost any sense of idyllic tranquility as Luke realized Ben was nowhere to be seen. 

Artoo agreed and started moving.

"Where are you going?" Luke called after him. 

Artoo blatted at him to stop sounding so much like Threepio and to use the comlink if he found Ben.

Luke shook his head and started searching, reaching out through the Force for the familiar mischievous presence. He clicked on the comlink as he looked behind a fake tree. "We _will_ find him, and when we do, not a word to anyone, got it?"

Artoo chirped back that Luke owed the droid an oil bath and tune-up in return for his silence, and Luke gritted his teeth, wishing kids and droids were easier to tolerate. Maybe Ben would be less difficult if he knew how good he had it with a holozoo instead of a muddy ditch. 


	3. Chapter 3

“Hello, moisture farmer. I am lost.”

Luke jumped in a very un-Jedi-like way and whirled in place. “Ben!”

Ben stood with his arms crossed, looking up at him indignantly. “I’m the little lost Bantha cub. Please help me find my herd.”

Luke stared at him, painfully aware of how much time passed as he considered his response. Once again he was torn between Ben’s need for discipline and his need for connection and he had no idea which was more pressing. Ben wanted to play. But disappearing in a crowded place to re-enact his favorite story was an inappropriate way to do it.

Ben seemed to pick up on his uncertainty and backed away.

Luke went for a compromise. He knelt down, looking Ben in the eye. “This moisture farmer is having a stressful day. I happen to be looking for a cub of my own.”

Ben smiled, exactly like Han, right down to Han’s expression when he tried to talk his way out of something. “Me?”

Luke smiled back. “That’s right. Thank you for coming back, because your mother would have killed me.”

Ben giggled.

Luke wondered if there was a “cool uncle” way of disciplining him for running off in the first place. There probably wasn’t. “Look, you scared me and Artoo by going off on your own. You need to stay with us when we’re in a crowded place like this.”

Ben turned his head to look at something else.

“Do you understand why you scared us?” Luke pressed.

Ben didn’t acknowledge him—he was watching a human family nearby, a mother, father, and two daughters, one of them crying.

“Are you even listening to me?” Luke asked, exasperated.

“She lost her doll,” Ben said.

Luke centered himself using a quick meditation exercise. He couldn’t get mad, couldn’t let anger guide his words and thoughts. But Ben didn’t appear to be sorry at all for disappearing, wouldn’t pay attention to him, and now he was probably reading private thoughts again. They were too far away to hear what was going on through the noise of the families and the animal exhibits. He let out a slow breath through his nose and asked, “How do you know that?”

Ben looked at him. “Shouldn’t we help?”

“I need you to answer my question,” Luke said.

Ben shrugged.

“Ben,” Luke said sternly. “Are you listening to private thoughts?”

“It was one time, Uncle Luke!” Ben protested.

Luke stood up. It wasn’t “one time.” It happened too much, and Ben had to stop. Yoda had barely touched this subject with him, and Old Ben had used mind tricks but nothing along the lines of what Ben could do on a whim. And if Luke couldn’t steer him away, what would happen to him?

“I know you’re not telling the truth,” Luke said after a moment. “I’m disappointed.”

Ben glared at him, and Luke could sense deep resentment boiling off the little boy that made him pause. Was Ben telling the truth? Why else would a five year old feel so…bitter?

Luke took a moment to signal Artoo over the comlink, keeping an eye on Ben the whole time.  “Artoo, I found Ben. We’re by the desert creatures exhibits.”

Ben crossed his arms and stared at the Krayt dragon exhibit. Luke didn’t know what to do. Should he end their zoo visit early because Ben couldn’t behave? But going back to the little apartment went against all his goals of connecting with Ben…who was back to staring at people, not the zoo exhibits. Luke sighed.

Artoo rolled up to them and blorted rudely at Ben for disappearing, using some words Luke didn’t even know in binary.

Ben tore his eyes away from the passing groups of people and looked at the astromech, biting his lower lip. “I’m sorry.”

Artoo beeped something along the lines of “you better be,” and then asked if Ben had at least seen “anything cool” while he was gone.

Luke marveled at how well Artoo handled their charge. Ben had actually apologized and meant it, and now the tension dissipated almost immediately as Ben told Artoo about the bantha exhibit. Luke sighed inwardly—he should have thought to check there first, why didn’t it occur to him?

He just couldn’t seem to understand his nephew at all. They needed common ground.

They wandered through the zoo, Ben zipping off ahead of Artoo, then waiting for the droid to roll slowly over the cobblestones while complaining about the uneven surface like a grumpy old man. Luke watched them, thinking. The thing is they _had_ common ground—the Force—but…

He hung back as Artoo and Ben peered into the bantha exhibit, wondering why Ben liked Tatooine so much, sighing as he glimpsed the holographic display of the hulking, shaggy creatures. The sight instinctively unnerved him—banthas meant sand people.  Once again he thought about their different childhoods—Ben overflowed with obvious Jedi potential, to the point where it caused trouble, while Luke had never shown any whatsoever, not that he remembered.

Ben scared him. Ben had so much potential and it scared him.

He swallowed as he watched Ben read the display aloud to Artoo, who added embellished stories about his time on Tatooine "fighting herds of banthas." 

Artoo got along with Ben because the droid was (usually) honest with him. Artoo could tell him things honestly—that he was “strange”—and Ben didn’t mind. Maybe Luke should do the same—try to be honest as he could. Maybe that looked like connecting over the Force, even if it scared him.

“We could go see real banthas sometime, if you want,” Luke said, finally joining them close to the fenced enclosure around the holographic animals.

Ben went quiet, staring at the ground.

Luke sighed, deciding. “You want to see something cool?”

Ben looked up, curious. Artoo swiveled to look at Luke.

Luke took a deep breath and focused on the closest bantha hologram, tossing its horned head, trudging through the sand—he felt with the Force, feeling the energy, the light—he wasn’t sure if he could do this, and he hoped that wherever Master Yoda’s spirit was, he didn’t see his apprentice now as he attempted a party trick to win over his difficult nephew.

The holo emitters fritzed for a moment as Luke used the Force to _shift_ the light—he tried to make the image move, do something different, but that didn’t work—and suddenly the bantha turned brilliant purple. Luke winced, it wasn’t what he meant to do, but--

Ben laughed, clapping his hands. Artoo grudgingly beeped to Luke that was a neat trick, and Luke smirked down at him. Kids and their parents rushed to the exhibit, laughing and murmuring about what was happening.

“Can you change it another color?” Ben asked.  

Luke grinned and concentrated, following the same mental path as before with more intention, and the bantha turned bright green. The crowd moved away, complaining about the broken holograms, but Ben giggled while Artoo warbled praise for Luke’s unexpected mischievousness.

“Do you want to learn how to do that?” Luke asked, looking down. He frowned; Ben scrunched up his face, the tip of his tongue showing as he concentrated. Already trying to do it himself.

Luke nearly stopped him, but then realized they were only holograms, so what was the harm? The worst case scenario was he could break the holo-emitters, and Luke would find a way to send the zoo credits to repair them. Besides, this was an opportunity to bond with Ben over what they had in common—although he wished he could have thought of something that didn’t involve possible property damage and public alarm.

For a long moment nothing happened. Luke waited, wondering what Ben could do, feeling relieved when nothing happened--

Luke jumped as the hologram went dark, a void against the sand. Bantha-shaped but blank, the edges flickered as the creature shook its head. Artoo warbled in fear and backed away.

“I—“ Ben tilted his head. “I wanted to make it orange.”

Artoo warbled fearfully again.

“It’s not that scary,” Ben said. “It’s a space bantha.”

Luke raised a hand to his mouth, laughing. He stopped laughing as he realized he had no idea what happened to the light. He reached out with the Force, trying to feel what Ben was doing.

“How did you—“ Luke shook his head and tried again. “You didn’t turn it black, and you didn’t turn the emitters off. What’s happening?”

The bantha-shaped void filled in with a bantha again, shuffling slowly through the sand. Ben shrugged.

Several zoo employees stepped into the exhibit, their motions disturbing the holographic surroundings with waves and flickers. Luke grimaced as they started taking apart a panel to investigate the problem.

“We should go,” Ben said, right before Luke said it.

“Right,” Luke said.

Artoo led the way, whirring as Luke and Ben exchanged sheepish grins.

* * *

Ben kept looking at the door all evening and into the night.

Although they made some progress (Ben no longer clammed up every time Luke tried to speak to him), he wanted his mom to come home. She didn’t.

They got ready for bed, and Artoo powered down for the night, but Luke let Ben stay up a while longer, hopeful that Leia would be home soon.

Luke wondered what he would tell her as they waited at the kitchenette table. He couldn't exactly admit they had used the Force to mess with zoo exhibits. Besides, it would only scare her that Luke and Ben still didn't know exactly what he had done to the hologram. 

"Can we see real banthas sometime?" Ben asked, holding his empty glass of warm milk. 

"As long as you don't turn them into space banthas," Luke said.

Ben smiled, and he wearily climbed down from the chair. He trudged to his room after telling Artoo's silent form, “Good night.”

Luke followed and reached for the pad of children’s stories. “Do you want a bedtime story?”

Ben shrugged, pulling his blanket on.

“Okay,” Luke said. He began. “After the sandstorm that drove him from home, the little lost bantha cub wandered alone. So he walked, and he walked through the desert heat till noon, when he found a Jawa sandcrawler upon a sandy dune.”

He paused, waiting for Ben to fill in the part he liked.

Ben spoke quietly, eyes drooping. “’I am lost,’ said the bantha cub, ‘please help me find my herd.’”

Luke smiled and kept reading. “But the little Jawas shook their heads and gave their final word.”

Ben fell asleep before he could fill in the next few lines, but Luke finished the story, including the part with the moisture farmer (he grinned wryly at that). He stood and shut off the lights, still smiling softly. The day hadn’t been a total disaster after all.

He closed the door. He blinked, smile fading.

How did Ben know he used to be a moisture farmer?

Luke shook his head at the closed door. It was just a coincidence from the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Little Lost Bantha Cub: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/The_Little_Lost_Bantha_Cub

**Author's Note:**

> This page had a lot of good ideas of what to do when babysitting little kids: http://ask.metafilter.com/206184/Babysitting-5-year-olds-what-to-do


End file.
